Safety is a concern for passengers of vehicles. From structural enhancements to a vehicle's frame or body to components within a vehicle to limit passenger movement, improvement of vehicle passenger safety has been and remains an on-going process.
Vehicle safety has generally been improved by keeping passengers securely seated within a passenger compartment within a vehicle and minimizing intrusion of foreign objects into, or deformation of, the passenger compartment. Vehicle components between the passenger compartment and the perimeter of the vehicle (e.g., the trunk, doors, engine bay, etc.) have been designed to absorb impact and to minimize the magnitude of forces experienced by passengers within a vehicle during an impact. Safety within the passenger compartment has been enhanced with features to more gradually reduce a passenger's momentum by extending the time over which a passenger experiences an impact. Features such as seat belts and air bags are designed to cushion a passenger's deceleration during an impact to prevent jarring, abrupt accelerations experienced by the passenger's body.
Conventionally, safety developments have focused on keeping the passenger securely retained in a seat within the vehicle, and keeping the seat fixed in position within the vehicle. In this manner, the safety features surrounding the occupants can be optimized for the safety of an occupant in a known, substantially fixed position.
In extreme circumstances, the passenger compartment of a vehicle may be deformed or compromised by a foreign object, such as another vehicle, a barrier, etc. In such circumstances, additional safety features may be desirable to increase the safety of a passenger and to reduce potential injury to the passenger(s).